8.3 Hamath-zobah, an unknown city, perhaps a scribal error. David strikes down Hadadezer of Zobah, toward Hamath, according to 1 Chr 18.3.
8.4 Tadmor, a caravan city (Palmyra) located 140 miles northeast of Damascus. 1 Kings 9.18 reads “Tamar” (a small site in southern Judah; cf. Ezek 47.19; 48.28). Hamath, modern Hama, a city located between Damascus and Aleppo on the main overland route to Mesopotamia.
8.5 Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, twin cities in Ephraim that guarded a major pass on the road from the coast, by way of the valley of Aijalon, to the hill country and Jerusalem.
8.6 Baalath, an unidentified city in Judah.
8.7–10 The nations in v. 7 are the traditional inhabitants of the land before the arrival of Israel. Only the descendants of these nations, not the Israelites themselves, are conscripted into forced labor according to the Chronicler.
8.11 Solomon moves his wife, who was Pharaoh’s daughter, out of Jerusalem because of the sanctifying presence of the ark in the capital city. Chronicles does not include the other references in Kings to this marriage (1 Kings 3.1; 7.8; 9.16; 11.1).
8.12 Only the priests are allowed to go beyond the vestibule.
8.13–15 These verses, added by the Chronicler, demonstrate Solomon’s conformity to the law of Moses (cf. Num 28–29). His appointment of the Levites follows the precedent of David, his father. Cf. 1 Chr 23–27.
8.17–18 Ezion-geber and Eloth were ports on the northeast end of the Gulf of Aqaba. A joint sailing venture with Huram embarks from there and brings back with it four hundred fifty talents (more than 15 tons) of gold. Ophir, an unknown and presumably distant city; it took three years to get there (9.21).
2 CHRONICLES 9
Visit of the Queen of Sheba
1When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions, having a very great retinue and camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she discussed with him all that was on her mind. 2Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from Solomon that he could not explain to her. 3When the queen of Sheba had observed the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 4the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, and their clothing, his valets, and their clothing, and his burnt offeringsa that he offered at the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit left in her.
5So she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your accomplishments and of your wisdom, 6but I did not believe theb reports until I came and my own eyes saw it. Not even half of the greatness of your wisdom had been told to me; you far surpass the report that I had heard. 7Happy are your people! Happy are these your servants, who continually attend you and hear your wisdom! 8Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and set you on his throne as king for the LORD your God. Because your God loved Israel and would establish them forever, he has made you king over them, that you may execute justice and righteousness.” 9Then she gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones: there were no spices such as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10Moreover the servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon who brought gold from Ophir brought algum wood and precious stones. 11From the algum wood, the king made stepsc for the house of the LORD and for the king’s house, lyres also and harps for the singers; there never was seen the like of them before in the land of Judah.
12Meanwhile King Solomon granted the queen of Sheba every desire that she expressed, well beyond what she had brought to the king. Then she returned to her own land, with her servants.
Solomon’s Great Wealth
13The weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, 14besides that which the traders and merchants brought; and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of beaten gold went into each large shield. 16He made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three hundred shekels of gold went into each shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. 17The king also made a great ivory throne, and overlaid it with pure gold. 18The throne had six steps and a footstool of gold, which were attached to the throne, and on each side of the seat were arm rests and two lions standing beside the arm rests, 19while twelve lions were standing, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom. 20All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. 21For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.d
22Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. 23All the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. 24Every one of them brought a present, objects of silver and gold, garments, weaponry, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year. 25Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 26He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. 27The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. 28Horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all lands.
Death of Solomon
29Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from first to last, are they not written in the history of the prophet Nathan, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of the seer Iddo concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat? 30Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31Solomon slept with his ancestors and was buried in the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam succeeded him.
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a Gk Syr Vg 1 Kings 10.5: Heb ascent
b Heb their
c Gk Vg: Meaning of Heb uncertain
d Or baboons
9.1–12 Cf. 1 Kings 10.1–13. The queen of Sheba admires Solomon’s wealth and wisdom. Chronicles begins its account of Solomon with an account of his relationship with the king of Tyre (2.1–16). The queen’s trip probably involved commercial interests, since the trade routes to Tyre would pass through Israel.
9.1 Sheba, modern Yemen, some fourteen hundred miles from Jerusalem. The Sabeans prospered because of trade in myrrh, frankincense, gold, and precious stones.
9.4 The NRSV emendation (see text note a) is correct; the difference between burnt offerings and ascent involves a yod, the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet.
9.8 His (God’s) throne. 1 Kings 10.9 reads “the throne of Israel.” In Chronicles, the throne and kingdom are God’s (1 Chr 17.14; 28.5; 29.23; 2 Chr 13.8). God’s rule would continue forever, even if there were no human king, as was the case at the time when Chronicles was written. Huram affirms that God’s love for Israel led him to place Solomon on the throne (2.11).
9.9 One hundred twenty talents, 8,076 pounds.
9.10 Chronicles goes beyond 1 Kings 10.11 by making Solomon an equal partner in Huram’s gold trade. Algum wood. 1 Kings 10.11 reads “almug wood” it is perhaps red sandalwood.
9.13–28 Cf. 1 Kings 10.14–29. This idealized picture of the wealth of the United Monarchy may imply that a united Israel in the future might prosper similarly.
9.13 Six hundred sixty-six talents, about 44,821 pounds.
9.15 These shields will later be taken by King Shishak of Egypt (12.9–11).
9.16 House of the Forest of Lebanon. Cf. 1 Kings 7.1–12.
9.18 A footstool of gold. 1 Kings 10.19 reads “the top of the throne was rounded in the back.” The Chronicler may have found the text of Kings theologically offensive.
9.21 Tarshish, probably a site in Spain, or a designation for any distant place. Peacocks. The alternate baboons is preferred by many.
9.25 Solomon’s strength in horses is already mentioned at the beginning of his reign (1.14–17; 1 Kings 10.26–29).
9.26 Chronicles adds this description of the wide extent of the kingdom to provide a positive conclusion to the reign of Solomon. The words are taken from 1 Kings 4.21.
9.29–31 Cf. 1 Kings 11.41–43. Chronicles omits 1 Kings 11.1–40, which tells of Solomon’s foreign wives, the Lord’s decision to give most of the kingdom to one of the king’s servants, and rebellions in Edom and Aram and by Jeroboam, the first king of the Northern Kingdom.
9.29 Chronicles ascribes the Book of the Acts of Solomon (1 Kings 11.41) to a series of prophetic authors: Nathan (1 Chr 17), Ahijah (1 Kings 11–15), and Iddo (2 Chr 12.15; 13.22). There is no indication that the Chronicler used any other source than 1 Kings in producing the account of Solomon. Chronicles also cites three prophets in the final summary of David’s reign (1 Chr 29.29).
2 CHRONICLES 10
The Revolt against Rehoboam
1Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt. 3They sent and called him; and Jeroboam and all Israel came and said to Rehoboam, 4“Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke that he placed on us, and we will serve you.” 5He said to them, “Come to me again in three days.” So the people went away.
6Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the older men who had attended his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” 7They answered him, “If you will be kind to this people and please them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” 8But he rejected the advice that the older men gave him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and now attended him. 9He said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” 10The young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus should you speak to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you must lighten it for us’ tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. 11Now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”
12So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had said, “Come to me again the third day.” 13The king answered them harshly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the older men; 14he spoke to them in accordance with the advice of the young men, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” 15So the king did not listen to the people, because it was a turn of affairs brought about by God so that the LORD might fulfill his word, which he had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.
16When all Israel saw that the king would not listen to them, the people answered the king,
“What share do we have in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
Each of you to your tents, O Israel!
Look now to your own house, O David.”
So all Israel departed to their tents. 17But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who were living in the cities of Judah. 18When King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, the people of Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam hurriedly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
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10.1–19 Cf. 1 Kings 12.1–20. The Northern tribes protest against Solomon’s oppressive rule, rebel against Rehoboam, and set up the rival Northern Kingdom. They remain part of Israel, according to the Chronicler, but they need to repent of forsaking God.
10.1 Shechem, forty-one miles north of Jerusalem, was important in the patriarchal period (Abraham, Jacob) and was the site of Joshua’s farewell address (Josh 24). The choice of the traditional city of Shechem as the site for Rehoboam’s coronation may imply resistance to the Davidic dynasty and its capital at Jerusalem. All Israel in Chronicles refers to all of the tribes, in 1 Kings only to the Northern tribes.
10.2 Jeroboam is not mentioned previously in Chronicles, except for 2 Chr 9.29. Chronicles seems to assume knowledge of 1 Kings 11.26–40. Jeroboam rebels against Solomon and flees to Egypt. Solomon seeks to kill Jeroboam after he has been designated king of the ten Northern tribes by Ahijah, a prophet from Shiloh.
10.4 The hard service and heavy yoke probably include taxes and forced labor. Cf. the mention of the taskmaster over forced labor (v. 18) with the denial that Solomon really utilizes the such forced labor within Israel (2.17–18; 8.7–10). The elders counsel moderation and conciliation; Rehoboam’s own generation urges a hard-line approach. Rehoboam is already forty-one years old, although v. 8 makes him seem like an impetuous youth.
10.10 My little finger, lit. “my little one,” a euphemism for the penis. By using this coarse comparison Rehoboam promises a far harsher rule than his father’s.
10.11 Scorpions, an allusion to the fatal bite of the scorpion or perhaps to a type of scourge.
10.15 Turn of affairs. The same Hebrew root used here to refer to God’s control of events is also found in 1 Chr 10.14 in speaking of God’s handing the kingdom from Saul to David. Ahijah ’s word about the division of the kingdom (1 Kings 11.29–39) is not contained in 2 Chronicles.
10.16 Saw. This verb is lacking in the Hebrew; the NRSV here follows the text of 1 Kings 12.16. What share…O David. The poem rejecting Rehoboam’s kingship forms a mirror image to Amasai’s cry of support for David (1 Chr 12.18; cf. 1 Sam 25.10; 2 Sam 20.1).
10.18 Hadoram. 1 Kings 12.18 reads “Adoram.” By sending the leader of the forced labor Rehoboam confirms his hard line and provokes strong opposition. People of Israel. The Chronicler includes the citizens of the Northern Kingdom in the concept “Israel.” Chronicles omits an equivalent for 1 Kings 12.20, which reports that all Israel anoints Jeroboam to be its king.
2 CHRONICLES 11
Judah and Benjamin Fortified
1When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled one hundred eighty thousand chosen troops of the house of Judah and Benjamin to fight against Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. 2But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God: 3Say to King Rehoboam of Judah, son of Solomon, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, 4“Thus says the LORD: You shall not go up or fight against your kindred. Let everyone return home, for this thing is from me.” So they heeded the word of the LORD and turned back from the expedition against Jeroboam.
5Rehoboam resided in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defense in Judah. 6He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, 8Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that are in Judah and in Benjamin. 11He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. 12He also put large shields and spears in all the cities, and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.
Priests and Levites Support Rehoboam
13The priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all their territories. 14The Levites had left their common lands and their holdings and had come to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had prevented them from serving as priests of the LORD, 15and had appointed his own priests for the high places, and for the goat-demons, and for the calves that he had made. 16Those who had set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their ancestors. 17They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam son of
Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.
Rehoboam’s Marriages
18Rehoboam took as his wife Mahalath daughter of Jerimoth son of David, and of Abihail daughter of Eliab son of Jesse. 19She bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. 20After her he took Maacah daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 21Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and became the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters). 22Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. 23He dealt wisely, and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities; he gave them abundant provisions, and found many wives for them.
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11.1–4 Cf. 1 Kings 12.21–24. The prophet Shemaiah successfully warns Rehoboam not to fight against the North, and this results in a temporary truce.
11.1 One hundred eighty thousand. The number of troops is much larger than the size of ancient armies, but Chronicles has even bigger figures elsewhere (580,000 at the time of Asa, 2 Chr 14.8; 307,500 at the time of Uzziah, 2 Chr 26.10).
11.3 All Israel in Judah and Benjamin. 1 Kings 12.23 reads “all the house of Judah and Benjamin.” In Chronicles both North and South may be called Israel (for the North, see 2 Chr 10.16).
11.4 Against your kindred. 1 Kings 12.24 reads “against your kindred the people of Israel.” Note that the Northerners in Chronicles are still deemed kindred (brothers). This thing is from me. In this verse the Lord takes responsibility for the division of the kingdom.
11.5–12 According to this paragraph, which is unique to Chronicles, Rehoboam erected fortresses at fifteen strategic sites to protect his kingdom from the west, south, and east. A lack of fortresses in the north may imply that he intended to expand his territory in that direction. The western border is pulled back somewhat, perhaps indicating that the territory defended reflects the effects of Shishak’s invasion. According to archaeology, Beth-zur (v. 7) was destroyed at the time of Rehoboam, and Lachish (v. 9) was not yet fortified. The list may, therefore, come from a later king. Theologically, Rehoboam’s building project shows he was under divine favor.
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